Former Southern California residents living in Colorado will have to wait at least three years before they can nosh on an Animal Style burger from In-N-Out.

Last week, the Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger chain confirmed plans to expand to Colorado with as many as 50 restaurants. But, today, The Denver Post has learned that the first burger might not come for another three years.

“We anticipate that we may be three or so years from cooking our first burger in Colorado, but we are committed to working through the process as swiftly as possible,” Denny Warnick, vice president of operations for the burger chain, said in an email to The Denver Post, a sister publication to the Orange County Register.

In-N-Out is building a distribution center, administrative office and restaurant in Colorado Springs’ Victory Ridge development. That distribution center should support 50 restaurants within 350 miles of the facility, according to Andrew Klein, principal at Westside Investment Partners. Westside is owns Victory Ridge, a 153-acre mixed-use project featuring office, retail, recreation and residential development.

To maintain quality standards, the 69-year-old burger institution does not like to open restaurants too far from its distribution and beef production hubs. That means the company must first get those facilities up and running before they can consider building restaurants, Warnick said.

“We produce all of our fresh-never-frozen meat patties ourselves, with our own team of In-N-Out butchers,” he said. “Currently, we have patty making facilities in California and Texas. In order to provide the freshest, highest-quality product, we will need our patty making facility and distribution center in Colorado Springs to be built and operational before we can open our first restaurant.”

Colorado represents the seventh state the chain has entered since its founders opened the first restaurant in Baldwin Park in 1948.

Nancy Luna is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years reporting experience. She's been the Register's restaurant beat writer since 2005, covering some of the biggest players in the industry: In-N-Out, Chipotle, McDonald’s and Taco Bell. Luna also covers dining trends from food halls to food trucks. She writes with authority and is considered an expert in her field.